


𝓮𝓹𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵 | 𝓑𝓾𝓬𝓴𝔂 𝓑𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓮𝓼

by laurelcarstairs



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:42:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29440638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurelcarstairs/pseuds/laurelcarstairs
Summary: Geneviève has spent her life hiding from someone she knows nothing about, concealing powers and prophetic dreams of future disasters. But, lately, her dreams have been of a man she finds weirdly familiar. When she and Jane Foster run over someone who claims to be from Asgard, she sees the opportunity to get answers. However, he brings many dangers, including from the government, and she starts finding it even more difficult to conceal the powers she can barely control.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter One

Puente Antiguo, New Mexico

The air was still, like the calm before a storm, which I suppose it was. The stars were visible in the New Mexico night sky and even the cicadas were quiet. I took in the galaxy surrounding the van for one last time, for clouds were closing in, before turning back to Jane and Erik.

“Wait for it,” Jane’s voice was soft. She and Erik were standing in the back of the van, looking at the sky.

“Can I turn on the radio?” Darcy’s voice cut through the quiet.

“No.” I interrupted her and she turned away, rolling her eyes.

“Jane, Geneviève, you can’t keep doing this,” Erik said, exasperated. 

“The last seventeen occurrences have been predictable to the second.” Jane crouched down, frantically looking through our notes.

“You’re astrophysicists,” Erik objected, “Not some storm chasers.”

“We’re telling you, there’s a connection between these atmospheric disturbances and our research.” I turned my head from where I sit in the passenger seat, “Erik, we wouldn’t have asked you to fly out here if we weren’t absolutely sure.”

“Gen?” Darcy spoke again, “I think you wanna see this.”

“What is that?” Jane murmured, and I turned to look. I gasped, the sliver of sky was blue with hues of green, even in the night. Light broke through the clouds, coloring the mist swirling down. Erik and I hurried to stand and get a better view.

“I thought you said it was a subtle aurora?”

“Go!” Jane’s voice cut off Eriks, and Darcy hurried to comply. The van lurched forward and I was thrown to the back. “Get closer, go!” Jane said again. We drove forward at full speed and the mist shot lower, wind swirling it around and picking up the desert sand.

“What are you doing?” I exclaimed when Darcy veered away from the storm.

“I am not dying for six college credits!” Darcy turned her head to briefly look at me, allowing Jane to grab the wheel and steer back to the storm. Thunder crashed over Darcy’s screams as we entered the vortex. 

It was dark, with the sand swirling around our van. A dark humanoid figure was barely visible out the window and we were hurtling closer.

“Look out!” I yelled. Darcy slammed on the brakes, but it was too late and the van crashed into it and went spinning. I was thrown to the side again, and by the time I got up, the van had stopped moving and the storm was gone.

“I think that was legally your fault,” Darcy told Jane as we hurried to get out of the van.

“Get the first aid kit,” Jane kneeled beside the figure, “Do me a favor and don’t be dead. Please.”

“Where did he come from?” Darcy walked up with the first aid kit in hand. I looked around to see that the ground surrounding the figure- the man- is charred with some sort of design.

“What is that?” I murmured, but was cut off by the man gasping.

“Whoah, does he need CPR?” Darcy asked, “‘Cause I totally know CPR.”

“Darcy, not the time.” I shot her a look. The man started to sit up, looking at Jane, his striking blue eyes locking with hers. He then rolled back to the ground, panting. “Where do you think he came from?” I questioned softly.

“I don’t know,” Jane was looking at him in awe. The man got up, still panting.

“Are you alright?” I inquired.

“Hammer? Hammer?” His deep voice cut sharply through the quiet.

“Yeah, we can tell you’re hammered,” Darcy said, “It’s pretty obvious.”

I shot her another look. “Not the time,” I said, again.

“Oh, my god. Erik, look at this!” Jane's flashlight was pointed at the design charred on the ground, “We have to move quickly before this all changes.”

“Jane, we have to take him to the hospital.” Erik looked at the man, who was still speaking incoherently.

“Father!”

“He’s fine, look at him.” Jane barely glanced up, she was trying to document the design.

“Heimdall! I know you can hear me, open the Bifrost!” When he said the words Heimdall Bifrost I glanced up.

“Hospital. You go, we’ll stay.” Jane said to Erik.

“Wait, Jane, let me talk to him,” I interjected, looking at the man with a newfound interest. Can he give me the answers to my questions? 

“You. What realm is this?” He walked towards me, “Alfheim? Nornheim?”

“This is earth, Midg-,” I started to answer, but Darcy cut me off, pointing her flashlight at him.

“New Mexico?”

“You dare threaten me, Thor, with so puny a weapon?” He turned on Darcy, and I took the opportunity to sneak up behind him, planning on knocking him out with my flashlight. My feet scuffed the sand before I had the chance to hit him. He turned and grabbed the makeshift weapon out of my hands. I panicked, I had no other weapons so I reached my hand out to try and stop him from coming any closer. A familiar feeling came over me as my hand lit up briefly and he collapsed to the ground, shuddering.

“What just happened?” Darcy asked. Erik and Jane turn towards me.

“I don’t know,” I murmured softly.

“Come on, Gen, let's go.” Darcy 

I looked at the blond man one last time before getting in the passenger seat of the van. I looked out the window, thinking while Erik and Jane got Thor’s unconscious body into the van. Could he help me figure out my dreams? Or how to control the energy? My eyelids drooped and I fell asleep with my many thoughts swirling in my head.

My dreams were plagued with visions of a man I knew nothing about, but I never glimpsed him for more than a few seconds. In this one, he wasn’t wearing his mask. His shoulder-length brown hair was messy, and his stubbled face was contorted into a scream. His arms and legs were bound to a table, and he had people surrounding him, but they were blurred out. His blue eyes met my hazel ones, and the room faded to black.

“Name?” The lady at the hospital’s front desk asked. Jane glanced around uncertainly.

“Uh, I think he said it was Thor?”

“T-H-O-R, and your relationship to him?” The lady typed into her computer.

“I’ve never met him before,” Jane stammered slightly.

“Until she hit him with a car,” Darcy interjected, and I shot her yet another look.

“I grazed him,” Jane gestured to me, “But she tasered him.”

“Yes, I did,” I looked at the ceiling.

Light streamed in from the floor to ceiling windows of my lab. The air was cool, unlike outside in the sweltering desert town. I gazed out the windows, watching the civilians milling about. We shouldn’t have left Thor at the hospital. 

“You don’t think this was just a magnetic storm, do you?” Erik’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

“Look,” Jane gestured to her computer, “The lensing around these edges is characteristic of an Einstein-Rosen Bridge.

“A what?” Darcy asked.

“I thought you were a science major,” Erik remarked.

“Political science,” Darcy responds.

“She was the only applicant,” I looked back at the board, taking in the pictures from the storm.

“An Einstein-Rosen Bridge is a theoretical connection between two different points of space-time.” Erik attempted to explain, but Jane interjected.

“It’s a wormhole,” She directed her attention towards Erik, showing him the piece of paper that was in her hand, “Erik, look. What do you see?”

“Stars.”

“Yes, but not our stars,” I called over.

“See, this is the star alignment for our quadrant this time of year, and unless Ursa Major decided to take a day off, these are someone else’s constellations.” Jane showed Eric another paper.

“Jane,” I called, “Come look at this.” She walked over, taking in the picture I showed her.

“I think we left something at the hospital.”


	2. Chapter Two

I opted to stay in the van when Erik, Jane, and Darcy ran into the hospital to look for Thor. I hadn’t had time to think since the whole thing started, and I found my mind drifting back to my dream. The man had seemed familiar, like I had met him before, but I knew I hadn’t. He was attractive, sure, but there was something off about him. Why was he in pain? Who were the people surrounding him? My dreams were normally of disasters, why did I have one of him? Would he cause a disaster? Why was one of his arms made of metal? Why did I feel like he could see me too? The questions swirling in my head were cut off by my fellow scientists returning.

“We just lost our most important piece of evidence,” Jane got into the passenger seat, slamming the door shut, “Typical.”

“So now what?” Darcy said from the back, where she was looking at her computer.

“We find him,” I glanced behind me, seeing a flash of blond hair, and put the van in reverse.

“Did you see what he did in there?” Erik’s voice is apprehensive, “I’m not sure finding him is the best idea.”

“Well, our data can’t tell us what it was like to be inside that event, and he can.” I stepped on the gas, effectively cutting off Jane’s voice with the jerk 0f motion. A second later, a thump sounded.

“What?” Jane screeched, “Geneviève, did you just hit him with the van again?”

“Yep.” I got out of the car and walked over to where his body was on the ground.

“Ohmygod I’m so sorry,” Jane ran to crouch beside Thor, “I swear we’re not doing this on purpose. Well, Gen might have, but I didn’t.”

“Jane, he’s unconscious,” I looked at her worried face, snickering, “And besides, I just bumped him. You were going full speed when you ran him over the first time, and he was completely fine. He’s just a little weak from the tranquilizer they undoubtedly injected him with.”

I sat at my computer, back in the lab, analyzing the data from the storm. We had brought Thor with us, and he was now changing from his hospital gown to some of Jane’s ex-boyfriends’ old clothes.

“You know, for a crazy homeless person, he’s pretty cut,” Darcy sat staring at Thor’s abs, which he seemed oblivious to, “Hey, sorry Gen tased and ran over you.” She called over to him, where he was walking into the room, shirt in hand. He picked up a computer mouse, and Jane ran over to him.

“Excuse me, excuse me!” She grabbed it from his hand and set it back on the table.

“What is this?” He showed her the nametag on his shirt.

“Uh, um, oh,” She reached out and peeled it off, “My ex. Good with patients and bad with relationships. They’re the only clothes I had that would fit you.”

“They will suffice,” Thor walked away from Jane and towards the door.

“Uh, you’re welcome?” She faltered a little. I looked back at my computer, laughing silently, for all she chided Darcy about Thor, she sure didn’t object to him showing off his abs.

“This mortal form has grown weak. I need sustenance,” Thor’s voice sounded and I looked back up to see him put on the shirt.

“Yeah, I’m hungry too,” I shut my computer and got up, “Let’s go get some food.”

I looked down at my almost empty plate, lost in thought. If the man did see me, how? And why wasn’t he wearing the mask? Last night’s dream had been the first time I’d seen his face. I still couldn’t think of any plausible explanations for the mystery man, so I turned my thoughts to the man beside me. He was wolfing down his food, with no apparent thought of manners. He claimed to be from Asgard, a name which no one other than me seemed to recognize. I thought of all I had learned about Norse mythology, wondering if any of it was true. Grandmére always said to take it with a grain of salt, though she still made me learn everything there was to learn about the old gods. 

“Another!” Thor’s voice sounded and a crash startled me out of my reverie. I turned my head toward the noise to see that he has smashed the mug against the ground. The other people eating brunch looked over in shock, along with the cafe’s owner.

“Sorry, Izzy,” I call to her, “Little accident. I’ll pay for the mug.” Jane gets out of her seat to assess the shards of clay on the floor.

“What was that?”

“It was delicious, I want another.” Thor looked confused at her anger.

“Well, you could have just said so.”

“I just did,” I turned my attention back to my plate, not wanting to be caught up in their bickering. However, there was no escape, as they continued.

“No, I mean, ask nicely.” Jane’s voice was disbelieving, not understanding Thor’s customs.

“I meant no disrespect,” Thor says in a softer tone.

“All right. Well, no more smashing,” Jane was still worked up, but I can tell she was mollified slightly by his sort of apology, “Deal?”

“You have my word.” 

“Good.” Jane looked down, shy again. I turned my attention away from them and onto two men who had just sat down at the counter.

“You missed all the excitement out at the crater,” One of the men says, “They’re saying some kind of satellite landed out in the desert.” That grabbed my fellow scientists’ attention and they turned their heads to observe the conversation.

“Yeah, we were having a good time with it until the Feds showed up.” The other man grumbled.

“Excuse me. Did you say there was a satellite crash?” Jane asked the men.

“Yeah.” They turned towards her.

“Oh, my god. This is going on Facebook. Smile.” Darcy pointed her phone at Thor, who complied.

“What did it look like, the satellite?” Erik ignored Darcy’s antics.

“I don’t know anything about satellite, but it was heavy. I mean, nobody could lift it,” This grabbed Thor’s attention and he looked up from his food.

“Was it hammer-shaped?” I asked the men dryly.

“Well-” The man was cut off by Thor.

“Which way?” He looked up nervously and gestured with his thumb.

“About fifty miles west of here?”

Thor walked out of the cafe and Jane hurried to run after him. I finished my food and gave Erik money for the bill before leaving to find them.

“Thank you, Izzy!”

I found Jane and Thor arguing in the middle of a street.

“Oh, so you own a satellite now?” Jane exclaims.

“It’s not what they say it is.”

“Well, whatever it is, the government seems to think it’s theirs.” I walk up to them.

“If you take me there now, I’ll tell you everything you wish to know.” Thor stops and looks at us, “All the answers you seek will be yours when I reclaim Mjolnir.” Darcy and Erik catch up just in time to hear the last part.

“Myeu-muh? What’s Myeu-muh?” Darcy asks.

“Can I have a word, Jane?” Erik objected. Jane and Darcy walked to the sidewalk with Erik, out of hearing.

“I have other questions, Thor of Asgard,” I told him.

“You know of Asgard?”

“Yes, I do.” I said shortly, “But I have questions about other things.” Jane walked over before I could say anything that was of real consequence.

“I’m sorry,” She apologized, “But I can’t take you.”

“Then this is where we say goodbye,” Thor responded, grabbing Jane’s hand and kissing it. Jane blushed. “Jane Foster, Erik Selvig, Darcy, Geneviève Laurent, farewell.”

“Well, back to work!” Erik clapped and we walked back to the lab, Jane lingering and glancing back at Thor. 

A truck pulled up in front of us when we got to the lab, its bed filled to the brim with my equipment.

“Hey! That’s my stuff!” I exclaimed, but it drove away. I ran over to the lab to find the windows open and the inside bare.

“What’s going on here?” Jane ran up beside me.

“Ms. Foster, Dr. Laurent, I’m Agent Coulson with SHIELD.” A man in a black suit informed us.

“Is that supposed to mean something to us?” I seethed, my accent becoming more pronounced with my anger, “You can’t do this!”

“Geneviève! Geneviève, this is a lot more serious than you realize, let it go.” Erik grabbed my shoulders in an attempt to calm me down.

“No, Erik. This is a lot more serious than you realize,” I wrenched free from his grasp, “This research is my life.” 

“We’re investigating a security threat. We need to appropriate your records and all your atmospheric data,” Agent Coulson turned towards me, “Out of curiosity, Dr. Laurent, where are you from?”

“France,” I respond, “But that is irrelevant, imbécile.”

“By appropriate do you mean steal?” Jane snapped, catching up to me and Agent Coulson.

“Here,” He handed me a slip of paper, “This should more than compensate you for your trouble.”

“Compensate me?” I exclaimed, outraged, “I can’t just buy replacements at Radio Shack, I built all this equipment myself!”

“Then I’m sure you can do it again,” Agent Coulson looks mildly impressed.

“And I’m sure we can sue you for violating our constitutional rights!” Jane fumed.

“I’m sorry Ms. Foster, Dr. Laurent, but we’re the good guys.”

“So are we,” I teared up, “I’m on the verge of understanding something extraordinary something that can make my life make-” I cut myself off before I revealed too much.

“Everything we know about this phenomenon is either in this lab or this book,” Jane held up her notebook, causing me to shake my head, “And you can’t just take this away… Hey!” One of the agents grabbed the book from her hand and packed it in one of the trucks. I leapt after it, but was held back by Erik and Darcy. 

“Thank you for your cooperation.” The truck drove away, leaving me with an empty lab and none of the answers I had been seeking since my fifth birthday.


	3. Chapter Three

My room was blissfully quiet, quiet that I felt like I hadn’t experienced in forever. I brushed through my wet hair, which fell past my waist and looked almost black in the dim lighting. It was hard to believe that so much had happened in so little time, less than twenty-four hours. I had used my powers, almost exposing myself to Jane, Erik, and Darcy, and the first lead to find out whatever it was that Grandmére had been hiding from me my whole life was gone, along with all the equipment that I had spent years making. Tears sprung to my eyes, but I swallowed, not letting them fall.  
“Geneviève?” A knock sounded at the door, “Can I come in?” It was Jane. I adjusted my turtleneck, making sure it was on properly before answering.  
“Yes.”  
“How was your shower?” She looked anxious, like I might break if she pushed me too hard.  
“It was nice.” I replied softly, “How are you?”  
“I’m… okay, I guess. After SHIELD came…” She trailed off.  
“SHIELD,” I laughed bitterly, “What did they want with our stuff anyway?”  
“I don’t know… Geneviève, I was upset when they took our equipment too, but you were, for lack of a better word, crazed. Gen, why were you so upset?”  
“Jane, I spent years building that equipment, and we were so close to discovering something astronomical until they took the equipment and data. They’ve set us years, maybe even a decade, back.” I gave her a half truth.  
“Okay… um, also, how did you knock Thor out that night? You didn’t even touch him.”  
“I tased him, Jane.” I felt bad for lying to her, but at least it was slightly true.  
“Okay, okay,” She took the information in, “We should try and find Thor.”

“Hey,” Jane honked, “You still need a lift?” We had found Thor walking in a pet shop, and, at her words, he got in the van.  
“I’ve never done anything like this before,” Jane smiled a little and looked at Thor, “Have you ever done anything like this before?”  
“Many times, but you’re brave to do it.”  
“Well, they just stole our entire life’s work.” I piped up from the back seat, “We don’t really have much left to lose.”  
“Yes, but you’re clever, you two are far more clever than anyone else in this realm.” Thor looked at Jane, who was confused at his wording.  
“Realm? Realm?”  
“You think me strange.”  
“Yeah, I do.”  
“Good strange or bad strange?”  
“I’m not quite sure yet.” Jane smiled at Thor a little nervously, taking her eyes off the road.  
“Jane.” I said in warning, but was a little late, as the van had already rolled off the dirt path. Jane steered it back on, laughing with Thor.”  
“I’m sorry,” Jane quieted down, looking at Thor more seriously, “But who are you, really?”  
“You’ll see soon enough.” Jane looked disgruntled at Thor’s reply.  
“You promised us answers.”  
“What you seek, it’s a bridge.”  
“Like, like an Einstein-Rosen bridge?” Jane asked.  
“More like a rainbow bridge.”  
“God, I hope you’re not crazy.”  
The sky darkened gradually, and I dozed off.

This time, my dreams weren’t about the man. I recognized Puente Antiguo, but not the thing that was destroying it. It was metal, made out of horizontal plates, not dissimilar to the arm of the man I saw in my dreams. However, the plates moved and breathed, and glowing orange filled the space between. It’s head wasn’t really a head, it was more of an angular helmet with plates that moved to reveal a glowing red-orange centre. Beams of light shot from it, creating fiery wreckage at every turn.  
A blond, who I recognized as Thor, was standing in front of it. A voice came out of it, it’s accent the same as Thor’s, however I was unable to understand what it was saying. Thor said something back, and the thing stepped away, the plates covering the glowing orange. Thor smiled, and the metal creature stepped forward and backhanded him. He flew to the ground, gashes on his face and chest. I tried to scream and run to him, but I couldn’t move.

I woke up to the crash of thunder. I was alone in the van, Thor and Jane were not in sight, but I could hear muffled shouting. I got up and out of the van, only then noticing that I had a terrible headache, and the events of my dream washed over me. I have to find Thor. I ran towards the shouting and saw Jane huddled against a rock just outside of what looked like an army camp.  
“Jane, where’s Thor?” I asked her. She gasped, and turned to look at me in surprise.  
“He went to get Mjolnir, whatever that is. We couldn’t wake you, are you okay?”  
“I’m fine, I just need to find Thor. Where exactly did he go?”  
“He went through the fence.” Jane nodded her head to a spot where the fence was pushed up, leaving a gap large enough for someone to get through.  
“I have to go after him,” I looked at Jane, who opened her mouth in protest, “Jane, you stay here.” I didn’t give her a chance to respond before I slid into the camp.  
Lighting blinded me temporarily, the air crackling with so much energy I almost fainted. I looked ahead to see where Thor had gone, finding a trail of unconscious bodies. I followed them with almost no resistance, only having to knock out a few agents that tried to stop me. I arrived on the scene of Mjolnir when Thor was about to lift it.  
“Thor! Wait!” I screamed, but he paid me no heed. I knew if this series of events was allowed to continue, the destruction I had seen in my dream would not be stopped. Thor wrapped his hands around the handle of Mjolnir and pulled, but it would not budge. He screamed in frustration, stepping back from the hammer, and didn’t resist when agents handcuffed him and took him into custody.   
I, however, did. An agent rushed at me, swinging his fist. I grabbed his arm and used his momentum to fling him over me and onto the ground. I swung my leg out and tripped one of the the next agents that rushed at me and elbowed the other in the head, knocking them out. Another kicked at me, but I ducked under his leg and kneed his crotch. I heard a slight whistle and turned just in time to see an arrow hurtling through the air towards me. I didn’t have enough time to do anything other than move so it hit my arm before my body shuddered and I blacked out.

“Genna!” My mother called, “Come back here, we wouldn’t want you to get lost in Central Park on your birthday, would you?”  
“No Maman, I wouldn’t,” I laughed and ran back to where she was standing in the shade of a tree.  
“We should get back to your Grandmére, it’s getting dark out and your special birthday dinner is probably ready by now.”  
“Aww, can’t we stay for just a bit longer?” I asked my mother, pouting a little.  
“Okay, ma fille.”  
We stayed in the park as it got darker, playing tag and hide and seek.  
“I found you!” Maman snuck up behind me and tickled my sides, “Now it’s your turn to find me!” I closed my eyes and counted.  
“28, 29, 30! Ready or not, here I come!” I looked around and saw my mother standing beside a tree. “Maman, you didn’t even hide! That’s not how you…” I trailed off, seeing the expression on her face and ran to her. “Maman, what's wrong?”   
“Go, ma fille, run!” She glanced at the tree’s shadow fearfully, and I noticed a large figure. It moved towards me and I caught a glimpse of a knife before pain erupted across the base of my neck. I put my hand on my neck and they came away sticky with blood. I collapsed to the ground, reaching out to the figure, trying to use my power to stop him from hurting Maman, but I couldn’t summon enough energy and ended up only giving him a light shock.   
“Maman…” I watched helpless as the figure grabbed my mother by the throat and pinned her to the tree. I saw the life drain out of my mothers eyes and felt it drain out of me before my vision went black.

I woke up in a white room, bright enough that it took a few minutes for my eyes to become acclimated to it. I felt tears wet on my cheeks and my hands went involuntarily to my neck, feeling the scar. It had been my first flashback in years, coming when I thought I had gotten rid of them once and for all. I wiped my eyes and took in my surroundings. I was lying on a hospital bed, if it could even reasonably be called a bed. It was hard and uncomfortable to be on, and the surface felt cold on my body clad only in a thin blue hospital gown. Thankfully, I saw my turtleneck and trousers in a pile in the corner of the small room. However, before I could get up and put them on, the door opened. The man who had stolen my equipment, Agent Coulson, walked in.  
“You’ve been out for a while, Dr Laurent.”  
“How long? And where is Thor?” I asked, my tone hostile.  
“Around twelve hours. And your friend, Dr Selvig seemed to think his name was Dr Donald Blake when he picked him up.” Shit.  
“I have to talk to him.”  
“And we need to talk to you.”  
“Please,” Desperation showing in my voice, “People are in danger.”  
“And how would you know that?” Coulson looked at me. I looked down, not wanting a government agency knowing about my powers. “That’s what I thought. Answer our questions, and we might let you go. First, how did you take down so many of my agents?”  
“I trained in martial arts as a child.”  
“Tell me about yourself.”  
“My name is Geneviève Asteria Laurent. I was born in New York and I lived there until I was five, then my mother died so I moved to where she and my grandmother were from, France. I lived in France until I was ten, and then my grandmother’s work required her to travel, so I traveled around Europe with her until I was eighteen. I had finished highschool at fifteen, due to my being homeschooled, and went to university online, which I finished just before my eighteenth birthday. I convinced my grandmother to let me come back to New York to get my PhD in astrophysics, which I finished at twenty-one. I started working with Jane when I was twenty, and still am now.” Coulson nodded, but looked dissatisfied with my answer.  
“Where did you get that scar?” He gestured to my neck. I was saved from answering by his pager beeping. He looked at it, “Come with me.”

We rushed out of the army camp to black cars. Coulson opened the back door to one and gestured for me to go in, and he went in after me.  
“Where are we going?”  
“There’s been another energy spike,” Coulson looked at me, “What do you know about them?”  
“Why would I tell you?”  
“Because if you don’t, you’ll have no chance of getting to your ‘Thor’ to tell him whatever it is that is putting people in danger.”  
“You would so willingly play with the lives of innocent people?”  
“How about this, you tell us and we won’t arrest you.”  
“The energy spikes are an Einstein-Rosen bridge. Thor came to this word through it, though he calls it the Bifrost. I believe he is Thor, the god of thunder, of Asgard.”  
“You mean the one in Norse mythology?”  
“Yes. You saw what he did to your agents. A normal human would not have been able to do that.”  
“Yet you did.” Coulson mused.

“We’re here sir.” The man driving the car got out and opened the door, letting Coulson and I out. We walked up to another design burned into the ground, identical to the one I saw when I first met Thor.  
“Get someone from the linguistics department here.” Coulson ordered. Dark clouds covered the sky rapidly and thunder crashed. The air almost crackled with electricity, making my blood hum. The clouds swirled lower, creating an almost tornado-like shape. They came lower quicker, reaching the ground, then quickly retracting and revealing the metal creature in my vision.  
“Is that one of Starks?” A bald agent asked.  
“I don’t know. The guy never tells me anything.” Coulson grabbed a megaphone and walked toward the creature, “Hello. You are using unregistered weapons technology. Identify yourself.”  
“Coulson!” I screamed as the plates shifted to reveal the fiery energy inside, “Get out of the way!” The creature shot it’s fire at the cars, Coulson diving out of the way just in time. It moved through the wreckage and toward the small town. “Coulson, we have to stop it.”  
“Get in the car!” He pointed to one of the only vehicles the creature hadn’t destroyed. We got into the car, and drove off after the creature. 

By the time we got to the town, half the buildings were destroyed. I got out of the car and ran to where the creature was standing, but I drew up short when I saw my friends.  
It was the scene from my vision, buildings were flaming. The creature was standing, looking at Thor. Thor, who had gashes on his face and chest, and Jane, crying over his dead body.  
“No,” I whispered. “No,” I was too late. The first vision I had that I was able to stop, and I didn’t. I failed. The creature turned towards me, lighting up. I dove out of the way of the blast just in time, but singed my turtleneck. I ran towards it summoning the energy that had been crackling in the air all day. I shaped the energy into little spikes and sent them flying towards the creature. It staggered back a little when they hit it, but didn’t do much damage. Instead, it turned back to Jane, lighting up. I jumped in front of the blast and it hit me full force. I could hear faint screams as the energy overloaded my body and the world faded to black.


	4. Chapter Four

The man was crouched down. He had his eye pressed to the scope of the gun he was holding, and a finger on his metal arm hovering over the trigger. His face was obscured from view by the gun, but I could see the anguish in his eyes. He didn’t want to kill whoever it was that his gun was trained on. He shot it, got on to a motorcycle, and drove to where a car had crashed. I assumed he had shot the tire of the car, causing the crash. A man got out of the driver's seat, his face bloody. The metal armed man dropped his gun and punched the bloody man in the face until he slumped to the ground, dead. I could faintly hear a woman’s screams coming from inside the car. The man dragged the dead body to the car and arranged it in the driver’s seat. He walked around the car and put his hand around the woman’s throat, choking her to death. He averted his gaze from the woman and pointed the gun at where I was watching from, tears in his eyes. The gun shot, and I woke up.

I was in my bed, in my flat in D.C. Why am I in my flat? I sat up, and became aware of a shooting pain in my head. I swung my legs to the floor and was further confused to see that my body was clad in pajamas. I padded to the kitchen and saw my phone sitting on the counter, and my neighbor Natalia sitting next to it.  
“Nat?” I asked, “Why aren’t you at work?”  
“Your friend Jane and… I think his name was Phil Coulson?” She brushed a strand of her bright red hair away from her face, “Well, they asked me to take care of you, so I took a few days off, my boss is getting another translator to stand in for me.”  
“A few days? How long have I been unconscious?”  
“Only like twelve hours since they brought you here. I thought you didn’t drink?”  
“I don’t, normally.” Twelve hours. It took twenty-nine to get from Puente Antiguo to D.C. in the van, so that meant I had been unconscious for almost two days.  
“Here’s some water and an Advil.”  
“Thanks.” I washed the Advil down with the water.  
“So, how have you been?” Nat asked, “I haven’t seen you for months, not since you got a good lead on your research.”  
“Pretty good. It’s nice to finally be home.”  
“Your Grandmére came for a few days, she said she really needed to talk to you.”  
“She did?”  
“Yeah, she left right before that Phil Coulson guy showed up.”  
“Oh, I’ll have to call her soon then.”  
“I’m going back to my apartment, you get shower and get cleaned up and I’ll come back over in a bit for dinner, okay?” She looked at me and I nodded, watching her go out the door. The second the door clicked shut, I grabbed my phone and dialed Jane’s number.  
“Hey! How are you feeling?” She answered after a few seconds.  
“I’m okay. What happened? Where’s Thor? Is he alive?”  
“Thor’s alive, he had to go back to Asgard. He defeated the Destroyer after you got hit by its power. How are you still alive?”  
“I don’t really know. Is there any way to contact him?”  
“No, I’ve tried.”  
“Oh god, I’m so sorry. I didn’t ask you anything about how you are. Are you okay? I could see something was going on between you two.”  
“I’m fine, and it’s understandable. You’ve been unconscious for two days. Thor and I kissed before he left. But Coulson gave me back our work and equipment. He said he wants me to continue looking at the Einstein-Rosen bridges, but he has something different for you.”  
“What is it?”  
“I don’t know”  
“Ok, well I have to go shower, I’ll call you again soon. Say hello to Darcy and Erik for me.”  
“Okay.”  
“Talk to you later.” I pressed the end call button and set my phone down slowly. Thor was back in Asgard and I had no way of contacting him. My first lead to figure out whatever it was that Grandmére was hiding from me was lost, and I was tangled up with the government. My life had gone to shit.  
I got up and walked to the shower, letting the water heat up. I stripped off my clothing, touching the thin scar that ran across the base of my neck. I got into the shower, methodically going through the motions, still trying to process what had happened in the past few days. The water was very hot, but I welcomed the heat washing over my body. What am I going to do now? I needed to call Grandmére, but her work required her to be off the grid so often I could barely ever talk to her unless it was in person, which also almost never happened due to her living in France. SHIELD also apparently had something for me to do, which I couldn’t decide whether it was a good or bad thing. Apparently they didn’t want me to continue my research with Jane, so I did need a job, but trying to hide my powers from a powerful government agency while working at said agency would be a difficult task.  
I stepped out of the shower and dried off. I toweled my hair dry and brushed it through, then grabbed a turtleneck and trousers and put them on. I applied light makeup and made sure my contacts were in properly. The extent of what had happened finally washed over me completely and tears pricked my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. To distract myself until Nat came back, I picked a book from my bookshelves at random and opened it, attempting to lose myself in a different world. However, I could not concentrate and had barely turned a few pages when Natalia let herself in for dinner.  
“Bonjour, ma loulette. I hope you want to make sushi.”  
“Bonjour Nat. That sounds lovely.”  
“Are you feeling better after your shower?”  
“Yes, much.” The shower had calmed me down slightly and the Advil had kicked in, along with the time alone I’d had to process.  
“That’s good. You make your sticky rice and tofu and I’ll prepare the fillings.”  
“Yes, you’ll cut up some avocado and cucumber while I slave away doing the actual cooking.” I teased.  
“Hey, you said it, not me,” Nat raised her hands, smiling. “How long are you going to be in town before you have to travel for your research again?”  
“I’m not sure. Our research in New Mexico was a dead end, so I’m probably going to take some time to decide what I want to do next. What about you?” I finished mixing the sticky part of the rice together and checked on the rice that was cooking on the stove before mixing the breading of the tofu together.  
“Boss says we’ll stay in D.C. for at least a month, he has some business here to take care of.”  
“That’s great, Nat! We can get back into training again, at least for a little while,” I passed her some tofu, “Will you please cube this?”  
“Sure.” We continued talking and working until we finished.  
“A new episode of New Girl came out today, do you want to watch while we eat?”  
“Yeah, I’ll set it up while you get the food.” Nat grabbed the TV remote. I went to the kitchen and made plates for Nat and I.  
“Nat, how hungry are you?”  
“I’m pretty hungry.” I grabbed the plates and plopped down on the couch next to Nat, letting New Girl distract me as we ate.  
“You know, this show is actually pretty good.” Nat mumbled through a mouthful of sushi.  
“Yeah, I hope they continue the show after this season.” I continued eating and finished just before the episode ended.   
“You know, Gen, your voice is almost identical to Jess’s. You both have that partially lost voice thing, but in a sexy way.”  
“Nat, your voice sounds like that too.”  
“I know, but yours sounds closer to Jess than mine, and you can both sing.”  
“I suppose so. We should clean up before it gets late and I just leave it ‘til morning.”  
“Okay.” We got up and started cleaning up dinner. I had done a lot of it as I cooked, so it didn’t take long.   
“I’m going to make my nighttime tea. Do you want any?”  
“No, I’m good.”  
“Are you sure? I got this new one, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Tea’, it's based on Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and it’s delicious.”  
“I’m surprised you aren’t British, given the amount of tea you drink. And your obsession with reading and rain.”  
“We drink a lot of tea in France, too, Nat. And I did live in England for a little while for Grandmére’s work.”  
“Yeah, yeah,” A notification sounded on Nat’s phone and she looked at it, “Hey, do you want to go out for brunch tomorrow?”  
“Sure, what time and where?”  
“Le Diplomate like usual and does 11:30 work?”  
“Sure. Do you want to walk there with me?”  
“I can’t, I have an appointment early so I’ll just go from there.”  
“Okay,”  
“Well, I have a little work to do before bed, so I better get back to my flat. Goodnight, Gen.” Nat walked to the door and opened it.  
“I thought you took a few days o-” I was cut off the door closing, and glimpsed a rather sad expression on her face. “Off.” I said quieter. Why did Nat look sad? Did it have something to do with her phone’s notification? I shrugged it off, she was probably just tired, even though it was only 7:45. I’ll ask her about it tomorrow at brunch.   
I grabbed my phone and walked to the bathroom and washed my face. I went to my bedroom and did the rest of my skincare before changing into my pajamas and slippers and taking out my contacts. I looked at my bookshelf, deciding to read Pride and Prejudice, since it was my comfort book. I settled into my reading nook, pulling a blanket over my lap.  
“Shit, I forgot my tea.” I got up and hurried to the kitchen and made the tea, putting just a little oat milk and agave in. I walked back to my room with the hot cup of tea and settled in to read my well-loved copy of Jane Austen’s classic. I let myself get lost in its world, finding solace in Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s relationship. But when I reached the end, it left me feeling even more lonely than before. I glanced at the clock and was startled to find that it was already 11. I put the book back on my shelf and climbed into my bed, closing my eyes and snuggling under the covers.

It seemed that I was looking from the man’s perspective. I could see the metal arm’s finger on the trigger and the scope was aimed at another man. His back was turned, but I could see that his head was shaved bald. The scope moved, and I saw me in it’s sights. I heard a sharp intake of breath, but I couldn’t tell if it was from me or the man holding the gun. The scope moved again, back to the original man, but I caught a glimpse of Agent Coulson. What is going on? I felt the man’s finger tighten on the trigger, and I knew the bullet would hit the bald man’s head and kill him.

I woke up confused from the dream. Why was I there? Why was the bald man familiar? Why was Agent Coulson there? I dismissed the thoughts, glancing at my clock, and was surprised to see that it was 10:30. I don’t normally sleep this late. Maybe my body is still exhausted from the Destroyer’s blast. I got out of bed and hurried to the bathroom and did my skincare. I went back to my room and put on a turtleneck and trousers and looked in the mirror to apply makeup and was briefly startled to see that my eyes were silver. Damn, I forgot to put in my contacts. I hurried back to the bathroom and put in my contacts, looking in the mirror to see that my eyes looked properly hazel. I checked the time, 10:55, and put on boots and a blazer. I grabbed my phone, earbuds, and purse, and headed out the door. I walked quickly, trying to make sure I wasn’t late. I put my earbuds in my ears and played my playlist. I hummed along to the music and was at Le Diplomate before I knew it. I looked around for Nat outside, but didn’t find her so I turned to go inside, assuming she had gotten a table since I was a few minutes late.   
“Bonjour, Monique.” I said to the host, taking my earbuds out and tucking them with my phone in my purse, “Is Nat here?”  
“Oui, she is over there.” He gestured to a table in the corner. I walked over and found Nat sitting at a table for four.  
“This is rather big for the two of us, don’t you think?”  
“I guess so,” Nat still looked a bit sad.  
“Nat, are you okay?” I asked, sitting down.  
“Yeah, I’m fine.”  
“Are you sure? Because you-” I was cut off by a waitress walking over.  
“Bonjour, Miss Geneviève, the usual?”  
“Yes, merci Cecelia.”  
“I’ll have the Eggs Benedict, please.” Nat said.  
“You pick expensive places to eat, for a scientist.” Agent Coulson and a man with an eyepatch sat down at our table. “We’ll have the Petit Plateau, please, to share.” Cecelia looked at Nat and I with a questioning expression. Nat nodded her head, confirming that they were with us.  
I waited until Cecilia was out of earshot before saying, “Natalia, what is this about?”  
“Natalia is Agent Romanoff, and she works for SHIELD.”  
“Nick, why are you here and why the hell do you know about SHIELD?”


	5. Chapter Five

“So basically, everyone I have ever known and trusted has been lying to my face this whole time?”  
“Yeah, pretty much.” Natalia, who I now knew as Agent Romanoff, at least had the decency to look slightly ashamed. But Nick Fury, the man who had helped raise me, had kept a straight face throughout this entire exchange. After the initial meeting, he had suggested that they explain it to me outside, while we waited on the food.  
“I knew that Grandmére was hiding things from me, I just thought it was about my mother’s death, not about the one person she had said I could trust. I guess you just got close to report my powers and whereabouts to SHIELD.”  
“Actually, I’m the director of SHIELD. I haven’t been reporting anything about you.”  
“Apparently you have told people about me though. Agent Romanoff, Agent Coulson, and who knows how many others. Do you even know how much danger that puts me in? Or have you forgotten about this?” I gestured to my throat, not daring to pull the turtleneck down in public and reveal my scar. I looked around to make sure no one was listening to our conversation, and a weird feeling came over me as I glimpsed the man from my dream.  
“Look, Geneviève, I-”  
“Shit! Get out of the way!” I heard a gunshot and shoved Fury away from the path of the bullet, causing it to hit just below my collarbone.  
“Get in the car before he shoots again!” Agent Romanoff snapped, gesturing to a black armored car parked on the street. Fury and Agent Coulson scrambled in and I hurried to follow them. I glimpsed the man looking straight at me before he got up and sprinted away. Agent Romanoff ran after him and I closed the car door and pressed my hand on my wound, trying to quench the blood that was leaking out at an alarmingly fast pace.  
“Drive!” Fury yelled at the person in the front of the vehicle, who hurried to comply, “Go to headquarters.”  
“What, no I-” I trailed off, the effort it took to speak was too much and I pressed my would harder, but stopped as the pain became too much.  
Agent Coulson ripped the sleeve of his shirt off and handed it to me, “Here.” I nodded in thanks and pressed it to the wound. The pain came over me in waves, my vision going in and out of focus. I felt perspiration on my forehead and blood seeped through the fabric and onto my fingers. The car raced through the streets, running red lights until it pulled up to a large building in the middle of a lake. “This is the Triskelion.”

“Someone help her walk.” Fury ordered. Agent Coulson helped me through the doors of the Triskelion and into an elevator. “Go to the medical wing.”  
I sunk to the floor of the elevator, the throbbing of the wound and my head becoming too much to bear. My arms became weak and slipped from the wound. “Shit, Geneviève, stay with me.” Fury crouched beside me and pressed his hand to my wound. The elevator dinged as the doors opened, and Agent Coulson and Fury pulled me up and half-carried me into the medical wing. A nurse rushed over and guided me to a hospital bed.   
“What happened?”  
“She was shot in the collarbone.”  
“Get an IV, she’s lost a lot of blood.” I felt a prick as a needle was inserted into my arm and faded out of consciousness.

“Come on,” A kid jeered at me, “Fight back!” The group laughed and threw more stones at me. They were 12, two years older than me.  
“She’s too weak!” Another laughed, “Look at her, she’s cowering like a kicked puppy!”  
“Look at that necklace, I bet it’s worth something.” They advanced, and I gripped my pendant tightly.  
“Please don’t, it was my mothers.”  
“Oh, now she speaks.” One of them grabbed my arms, forcing them away from the necklace while the leader reached his hand towards it.  
“No!” I sobbed and my vision turned flashed white. I blinked and saw the kids unconscious on the ground, a radius of about ten feet away from where I was standing.

I woke up slowly, hearing the sounds around me before my eyelids were light enough to open.   
“What’s this?” I heard Agent Coulson’s voice.  
“It’s her mother’s old necklace. She gave it to her before she died.” Fury responded.  
“But her mother’s not-'' My hand twitched involuntarily, causing Agent Coulson to abruptly stop talking.  
I opened my eyes slowly. “Where’s my necklace?” Fury handed it to me and I examined its gold surface carefully, making sure the black diamond was in good condition. “Coulson, what were you saying about my mother?”  
“Oh, nothing. I misspoke.”  
Fury cut in. “Can you get up?” I shrugged but swung my legs to the floor anyway, wincing at the pain in my collarbone. “Coulson, help her walk.”  
“Walk where?” I asked. Coulson put his hand on my back to steady me as I walked unsteadily after Fury and into the elevator.  
“My office.”  
“Geneviève Laurent does not have clearance.” A robotic female voice sounded from the speakers.  
“Director override.” I felt a slight lurch as the elevator moved upwards. A ding sounded and we walked through the now open doors into a rather large room. Fury sat down at the large desk and gestured to a chair in front of it for me. I sat down warily and Coulson remained standing next to Fury. He pushed a button and the windows tinted, making the room darken.  
“Why am I here?”  
“We have a proposition for you. Coulson, go fetch Agent Hill, and see if Agent Romanoff is back yet.” Agent Coulson complied, leaving Fury and I alone.  
“What proposition?”  
“We want you to become an Agent.”  
“Like, work for you?” Fury nodded. “And what does Grandmére think about that?”  
“She was the one who suggested it.”  
“Why?”  
“Your skills could be useful to us. You saved my life today with your observation skills, not to mention you’re the only super soldier we have since Captain America disappeared, and if you can get better control over your energy, you could be almost unstoppable.” So he doesn’t know about my dreams. At least Grandmére didn’t betray me in that aspect as well.   
“People can’t know about those.”  
“SHIELD can protect you.”  
“And what if you can’t? What if I get in the hands of whoever tried to kill me on my fifth birthday? What if they decide to use me instead of kill me? It’s too dangerous for me to become unstoppable.”  
“I said almost unstoppable. With the help of Agent Romanoff and Iron Man, we could overpower you.”  
“Even now, Romanoff couldn’t stop me. I’ve sparred with her, and even without the use of my powers, I can beat her. And if I do learn to control my powers, I could easily beat Iron Man by overloading his systems with energy. Or absorbing the energy.”  
“It wouldn’t get to that.”  
“Okay, let’s assume it doesn’t. What would being an Agent entail?”  
Agent Coulson and who I assumed was Agent Hill walked into the room. “Good question.”  
Fury leaned back in his chair. “You would automatically become a Level Seven Agent. Your assignments would be similar to Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff’s. Intelligence operations and other field work.”  
“Why would I accept? I am in no need of money.”  
“Well, besides the handsome salary you would be getting, we will assist you in your search for answers about your past.”  
“Grandmére hasn’t already told you everything?”  
“There are some things that even your Grandmére doesn’t know.”  
“I need time to think about it.” I get up and walk to the elevator. “I’ll let you know what I decide.” Agent Coulson followed me into the elevator.  
“I’ll take you to your stuff. Medical wing.” Coulson led me to my phone and earbuds. “We only have what was on your person when you were shot.”  
“Okay, thank you.” I grabbed my things and walked to the lobby and out the doors of the Triskelion. Since I didn’t have my purse, I had to walk back to my apartment. I put my earbuds in and played Vampire Weekend’s album “Contra”. 

By the time it got to “Cousins”, the sky had darkened and my wound was killing me. The end of “Diplomat’s Son” saw me unlocking the door and entering my apartment. I had turned on the lights and collapsed onto my couch, closing my eyes and sighing, when a strange feeling washed over me, like I was being watched. I opened my eyes and saw the man from my dreams standing in the shadows in front of me.


End file.
